An Examination of Policy and Context
The previous chapter presented the background of the study. This chapter presents the geographic, political, socio-economic and educational contexts that
influenced ICT policy in education in Vietnam. A primary objective of this study was to identify pre-service EFL teachers’ perceptions of integrating ICT into their English language teaching programs, and accordingly, it was necessary to identify the major influences on EFL education in the Vietnamese university system. This entailed a review of the Vietnamese education system and how ICT was
introduced, both generally and in English teaching and learning specifically, including a description of university training for pre-service EFL teachers. Finally, the chapter provides an analysis of the critical components of Vietnamese ICT policy related to EFL teaching and learning.
Geographic, Political and Socio-economic Status of Vietnam
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a small “s” shaped country situated on the eastern Indochinese Peninsula between 8° and 24°N latitudes, and 102° and 110°E longitudes. The country is surrounded by other Asian nations and has a surface area of approximately 331,212 square kilometres, with 4,639 km of boundaries and 3,444 km of coastline. Vietnam borders China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, Thailand across the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest, and
the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia across the South China Sea in the east and southeast.
Politically, Vietnam is a one-party socialist republic. In 1986, the Communist Party of Vietnam, aware of the need to improve the mainly agricultural economy, deployed a reform program titled Đổi Mới. The program not only changed the economy but also positively affected politics and society. Since the introduction of Đổi Mới, Vietnam has become one of the most dynamic emerging countries in the East Asian region. Off-shore companies increased foreign investment and Vietnam’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 7.08% in 2018, the highest in the past 11 years (Vietnam GSO, 2018). These changes resulted in dramatic reforms within the higher education system (Harman, Hayden, & Nghi, 2010; Hoang, Tran, & Pham, 2018). However, the country faced several challenges in relation to macroeconomic stability,
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limitations of mineral and agricultural resources, unequal economic development in rural areas and environmental issues (Diez, 2016).
Vietnamese Education System
Since this study focuses on Vietnamese EFL pre-service teachers’ and lecturers’ perceptions of ICT implementation in their EFL Teacher Education Program, it was necessary to establish their previous English language experiences, as these would have influenced their perceptions. Figure 2.1 outlines the levels that most EFL teachers pass through before entering university.
Figure 2.1 The Vietnamese National Education System
Adapted from the Vietnamese Government (2016), Decision No. 1981/QD-TTg, October 18, 2016, on approving the structural framework of the national education system.
On 18 October 2016, the Prime Minister of Vietnam approved Decision No. 1981/QD-TTg, endorsing the framework for the national education system. This policy introduced criteria for enrolment, length of study, further education opportunities and
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training qualifications to be awarded at each educational level (Vietnamese
Government, 2016). Today, the educational system in Vietnam consists of five levels: primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education,
undergraduate university education, and at the fifth level, postgraduate education. Early Childhood Care and Education includes pre-primary education, nursery school and kindergarten, and caters for children aged between three months and six years. Attendance is optional. The first formal level of education (Primary Education) is free (Vietnamese Government, 2010) and comprises five grades; the curriculum mainly covers basic skills, physical education and Vietnamese language. In the big cities, foreign language education is taught from Year 3, while pupils in the countryside do not learn a foreign language until they reach lower secondary school.
The second level of education (Secondary Education) caters for primary school graduates and includes four years of study for students aged from 11 to 15 years, starting from Year 6 and extending to Year 9. In secondary school, students are educated in basic skills required for general subjects, as well as subsidiary subjects, such as art and others involving life skills. After graduating they can opt to enrol in Upper Secondary School or attend Elementary and Intermediate-level Training programs.
Upper Secondary Education, the third level, is offered to students who graduate from Lower Secondary School and pass a compulsory entrance exam. During Upper Secondary Education, students can transfer to intermediate-level training programs, provided they meet the prescribed requirements. This education level covers three school years, from Year 10 to Year 12. Graduates can move to the next education level or register in vocational education programs.
To receive their Diploma at the end of Year 12, high school students are required to sit the national High Graduation Examination (HGE), administered by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). University entrance is based on scores achieved in the HGE. University training programs established by MOET include information about the minimum requirements expected for students to graduate. Training programs last from three to five years of fulltime study, depending on the discipline.
After more than a decade of renewal a number of positive changes have
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of non-public schools and different types of informal education, open learning, distance education and joint ventures with foreign institutions (Nguyen, 2015a). Moreover, between 1990 and 2017, Vietnam’s HDI (Human Development Index) value increased from 0.475 to 0.694, an increase of 46.1%, positioning the country at 116 out of 189 countries and territories (United Nations Development Programme, 2018). Following the reform period, stable politics, economic achievement and good living standards contributed to educational development in Vietnam.
EFL Education in Vietnam
Historical Context: Foreign Influence
To understand the status of English as a foreign language (EFL) in the Vietnamese education system, an historical context for the study is presented next, followed by an explanation of how traditional pedagogy has affected teaching of English.
Several factors determined the adoption of foreign languages in Vietnam. China occupied Vietnam for almost 1000 years (11 l BC - 938 AD), resulting in Chinese becoming the dominant language and Confucianism dictating educational practices (Le, 2016). The second major influence was French colonisation in 1858, when a French curriculum was adopted and French became the official language (Pham & Fry, 2004). It was not until 1945 that Vietnam gained independence from France. However, as a result of the Geneva Agreement, Vietnam became divided into two countries: The Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), governed by Vietnamese
communists, and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), backed by American aid (Do, 2006; Wright, 2002). Consequently, South Vietnam adopted an American model of education, while North Vietnam adopted a Soviet model (Pham & Fry, 2004), leading to further language changes, most notably the emergence in North Vietnam in 1954 of a new language that used Latin characters. This language was also adopted in the south in 1966 (Le, 2016).
In the south English was dominant, although French was also spoken. English was so widely used in the south that teaching the language was undertaken by both professional educators, such as linguistic specialists and university graduates, as well as some untrained civilians and military officers (Do, 2006; Wright, 2002). After the USA withdrew from the south in 1975, the north and south were reunited. Vietnam adopted the USSR model of communism, leading to a decline in the use of English and a
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predominance of Russian as the main foreign language taught throughout the Vietnamese educational system (Do, 2006).
Following reunification, the devastation of war brought severe hardship and financial difficulties. In response, the Vietnamese Communist Party proposed the “Doi Moi” policy (Shapiro, 1995) in 1986 to address the country's extreme poverty after a period of poor governance and economic isolation (Wright, 2002).
During the implementation of Doi Moi, Vietnam opened up dialogue with numerous countries, regardless of their political systems (Do, 2006), and in the early 1990s, communication with non-communist countries increased significantly (Wright, 2002). Globalisation led to the establishment of new relationships with the west, that in turn, influenced the economic sector and resulted in rapid growth in tourism to Vietnam. These changes led to foreign languages assuming a key role in economic reforms
(Dang, Nguyen, & Le, 2013) for communicating and building relationships with other countries and an emphasis on the inclusion of foreign languages in the educational system. In particular, after Vietnam joined the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the need and motivation for English-language learning increased exponentially. Since then, English has become the most prominent foreign language in the Vietnamese education system.
Influence of Traditional Pedagogy on English Teaching
It is not surprising that the development of English language teaching (ELT) in Vietnam has been affected by traditional pedagogy, characterised by almost one
thousand years of Chinese domination. This led to an inevitable and persistent influence of Chinese ideologies, especially Confucianism, not only on education, but Vietnamese society as a whole. The following subsections describe how ideology has influenced principal elements of the curriculum.
Traditional Role of the Teacher
Teachers plays a central role in education in Vietnam, where they are honoured and respected (Kramsch & Sullivan, 1996) and regarded as authority figures whose words are highly influential (Kramsch & Sullivan, 1996; Nguyen, Terlouw, & Pilot, 2006). In the past, the status of a teacher was ranked equal to that of a king or a parent. Teachers are considered role models for the morals, ethics and ideals that students should follow (Nguyen et al., 2006). Consequently teacher-centered pedagogy prevails in classrooms and students are discouraged from thinking independently, questioning
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teachers’ knowledge or drawing their own conclusions (Pham, 2007). Students who argue with teachers, parents or older people are considered rude and disrespectful (Bui, 2015). All these factors collectively designate teachers as absolute authority figures in the classroom, and in such an environment, students are not encouraged to express their creative and independent thinking (Littlewood, 2000, 2001).
Traditional Role of Textbooks
In Vietnam, the curriculum and syllabus are largely delivered through prescribed textbooks (Le, 2011b) that require teachers to guide their students through routine lessons for which structure, sequence and content are provided (Duggan, 2001). Vietnamese students are accustomed to traditional pedagogy dictated by textbooks. Specifically, they engage in learning that involves following the text faithfully and memorising knowledge (Ryan, 2013). As a result, only information included in the textbooks is perceived by Vietnamese students as learning. Additionally, ELT pedagogy has typically focused on supporting students to memorise grammar and vocabulary from the chosen textbooks.
Communication skills, such as speaking and writing, have typically been
neglected (Bui, 2015) and teachers have become frustrated with having to complete the prescribed lessons in the syllabus and textbooks that prevent them from adopting more communicative teaching approaches due to time constraints (Le, 1999).
Traditional Role of Examinations
Examinations have traditionally played an important role in Vietnamese
education. In the past, those who succeeded in examinations were considered successful and scholarly and received social recognition and government privileges (Sullivan, 1996). High marks for examinations were considered the only means for individuals and their families to succeed socially and economically (Pham & Fry, 2004; Pham, 2007; Woods, 2002; Zhu, 2013), and in this way, educational achievements were not only considered important for students, but also for their communities.
English is regarded as one of the main subjects of general education and must be passed in the National Examination by secondary and high school students. However, in accordance with the national framework, English is tested in written form only and includes comprehension, grammar and translation (Le, 2011a). To facilitate their students passing the exam, teachers follow the prescribed curriculum and textbooks to the letter using grammar translation approaches. Time and intention do not allow for
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diverging from the all-important goal of passing the National Examination, so teachers are deterred from adopting communicative teaching approaches (Vu, 2015).
Despite recent educational changes, Vietnamese children, parents and society more broadly still believe that success in examinations is a key requirement for a good life and a rung on the ladder for upward social mobility (Le, 2011b). Consequently, students who receive encouragement and support from their parents tend to study hard to achieve academic excellence and pass the highly competitive university entrance examination (Tran, 2013a). Parents are typically "expected to sacrifice everything for the sake of their children's education" (Ryan, 2013, p. 60), reinforcing the important role of examinations in the current perceptions and motivations of Vietnamese society (Le, 2011b).
English Language Teaching in Vietnam
Currently, teaching English as a foreign language is emphasised at all levels of the curriculum in Vietnam. Previously taught only in certain schools in larger cities and mandatory only in secondary schools, English has more recently become a compulsory subject from Year 3 onwards.
A 1992 report by Denham showed that English language teaching practices in Vietnam were predominantly based on the grammar-translation method, despite other countries having embraced more research-based, communicative strategies. At that time, the focus was on developing students' reading skills. Speaking skills were overlooked, probably because there were approximately 50 students to a class and English teachers had a relatively poor command of the spoken language. Furthermore, there were limited opportunities to communicate in English, especially with L1 English speakers.
Communicative Language Teaching in Vietnam
Since 2002, the English language curriculum in Vietnam has undergone a major shift towards reforming education and adopting a more communicative approach to teaching and learning (Le & Barnard, 2009; Tran, 2009). A communicative language teaching (CLT) approach emphasises the use of language to communicate. Early proponents believed that, given the right conditions, "language learning will take care of itself " (Harmer, 2007, p. 52) and "language is learnt through meaningful language use" (Klapper, 2003, p. 52).
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Richards (2006) observed that CLT had undergone several changes and that current trends focused on facilitating language learning using both inductive and discovery learning through exposure to and engagement in authentic and meaningful language exchanges (Richards & Rogers, 2001). Richards (2006) believed that current CLT practice was flexible and informed by a set of guiding principles within a teaching context that allowed students to negotiate meanings, use language creatively and purposefully, and discover and share interpersonal experiences. He commented:
Current communicative language teaching theory and practice... draws on a number of different educational paradigms and traditions. And since it draws on a number of diverse sources there is no agreed upon set of practices that characterise current communicative language teaching (p. 22).
Richards (2006) argued that CLT was not a top-down process in which the teacher plays a central role, but served as facilitators and creators of rapport and collaboration between students, builders of confidence that will encourage students to take risks with language and role models of fluent language use.
Like many Asian countries where CLT has become the dominant approach in ELT (Butler, 2011; Kam, 2002; Littlewood, 2007), it was implemented in Vietnam via the year 2000 curriculum renewal policy and has been clearly documented in MOET's more recent policies (Ministry of Education and Training, 2014c; Vietnamese Government, 2008). For example, in secondary schools, English teaching focused on improving students'
communicative skills based on formal knowledge of the language. In 2008, the government issued Decision 1400/QD-TTG (Vietnamese Government, 2008) for
implementation of the National Foreign Language 2020 Project. The main purpose of the project was to ensure noticeable progress in professional skills and language competency and for graduates from vocational schools, colleges and universities to achieve independent use of a foreign language by the year 2020.
In response to the Decision, the Common Framework of Foreign Language
Proficiency, comprised of six levels and based on the Common European Framework (CFER) was published as the official means of assessing L2 competencies of Vietnamese
learners. This framework strongly influenced curriculum design, lesson plans, methods and assessment at all educational levels (Ministry of Education and Training, 2014c).
According to its stipulations, primary students are required to attain Level 1 competency, and secondary students, Level 2 or 3. Tertiary students who do not have English as a major
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must achieve Level 3 or 4 to graduate; while English majors are required to graduate with Level 4 or 5. Along with previous educational policies and practices, MOET (Ministry of Education and Training, 2014c) emphasised improvements in ELT students’
communication abilities. In addition, the expected teaching and learning outcomes were published, calling for innovation in terms of goals, methods and assessment to meet the requirements of a CLT approach.
These policy initiatives triggered several changes in practice. The authors of textbooks commissioned by MOET adopted a more learner-centred approach by integrating skills in reading, writing, listening and speaking, describing interactive
classroom activities that incorporated individual, pair and group work (Barnard & Nguyen, 2010; Chu, 2014; Nunan, 2003). MOET also organised CLT workshops, seminars and conferences for teachers to integrate this approach into their teaching practice - the results were positively received by both teachers and students (Hiep, 2007; Ngoc & Iwashita, 2012; Phan, 2004). These studies indicated that CLT can assist teachers to encourage students’ involvement in communicative tasks that simultaneously preserve Vietnamese culture. Most importantly, teachers reported that they implemented CLT because of the communicative benefits of this approach.
Although implementing CLT in ELT has produced positive outcomes, some scholars have identified several challenges for teachers and students in developing English proficiency. For instance, Le (2012) found that despite years spent learning English, many secondary school students were only able to perform simple routine functions, such as introducing themselves and describing simple, everyday objects. They were unable to read simple texts or communicate with English speaking people, even in controlled
environments. In contrast to the primary sector, at the tertiary level, ELT pedagogy required teachers to focus on grammar, reading and writing, rather than oral
communication. This approach was taken because many tertiary institutions were forced to redesign English programs to cater for students who were beginners, many of whom had low levels of English proficiency. Although programs were redesigned to account for this, “recent studies have demonstrated that tertiary students’ language proficiency has not improved and is still very far from the requirements of their future jobs” (Bui, 2015, p. 39).
Although CLT is considered central to English curriculum renewal in Vietnam, a gap exists between policy requirements and new pedagogy for teachers. Earlier, (Ellis, 1994) found the communicative approach in its early form unsuitable for Vietnamese
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educators, due to constraints such as institutional barriers, teacher beliefs, the need for curriculum development and alternative assessment procedures. Similarly, Hiep (2007) claimed that CLT was not successful in Vietnam because teachers had limited access to learning environments with meaningful, authentic language activities to encourage students to use English. Instead of focusing on English proficiency, Vietnamese students are more concerned about passing grammar-based exams. In addition, teachers are uncertain about independent CLT practices and any attempts at communicative activities are thwarted by too many students in one classroom. A lack of student motivation is also considered an obstacle to CLT implementation. A review of recent studies by Bui (2015) indicated that the contemporary version of CLT remains challenging for Vietnamese educators, mainly due to factors such as teachers, teaching methods, textbooks, learning and teaching facilities and assessment methods.
In 2018, Nguyen (2018) reported a version of communicative language teaching in an EFL teacher education context. The term CLT can be interpreted from its single